The Opening Breakfast Ceremony will kick off the DreamWeek 2018 Summit on Friday, January 5 with a keynote address from Daryl Davis, a musician, author, and lecturer who has received national acclaim for his work in race relations. The Ceremony will also include a presentation by DreamVoice founder and CEO Shokare Nakpodia as well as brief remarks from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Hosted by DreamVoice, LLC.
San Antonio is a city defined by its vibrant multicultural heritage. The purpose of DreamWeek is to bridge the gap between the people and the ideas that make San Antonio so great. DreamWeek serves as an international summit concerning tolerance, equality, and diversity.
The Purpose of DreamWeek is to advance the teachings and ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other humanitarians by continuing their dreams of a more equitable and enlightened society for all.
DreamWeek will span 12 days of global exchange and festivities which includes plenty of events, keynote speakers, mixers, and a variety of celebrations.
The event culminates in a 150,000+ person march through San Antonio.
San Antonio – DreamWeek 2018 kicks off at the Jack Guenther Pavilion at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in downtown on Friday morning.
The sixth annual event is part of the SA 300 Tricentennial Celebration and is a 16-day summit promoting tolerance, equality, and diversity.
The opening ceremony begins at 8 a.m. Friday.
He will be the keynote speaker for the kickoff of Dreamweek. Daryl Davis and author Tai Abrams stopped by News 4 San Antonio’s Evening Break to share their stories and what you can expect at the upcoming Dreamweek events.
While it’s probably a lot easier to delete someone from your Facebook friends list who you don’t agree with politically than actually engage with them in a discussion about issues across today’s contentious landscape, that kind of passive aggressive action isn’t something that interests African-American musician and race relations activist Daryl Davis whether he’s online or off.
Instead, Davis, 59, who has performed with legends such as B.B. King and Chuck Berry, would much rather set up a meeting and offer his friendship to those individuals whose ideals are on the opposite end of the spectrum as his. Most notably, Davis enjoys interacting on a personal level with members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists in an attempt to alter their racist ideology.
In his documentary film, Davis travels around the U.S. speaking with known racists and collecting historic KKK memorabilia. During a Reddit AMA session in September, Davis wrote: “Don’t be afraid to invite someone with a different opinion to your table. If everyone in your group agrees with one another and you shun those who don’t agree, how will anything ever change?”
San Antonio’s Martin Luther King, Jr. March, now in its 31st year, has become one of the nation’s largest marches of its kind. But the march is just one part of a growing event filled with festivities that celebrate MLK’s legacy of education, tolerance, and cultural diversity.
The sixth annual DreamWeek Summit, beginning January 5, includes more than 200 symposiums, panel discussions, performances, and other activities — all designed to foster an environment for civic and civil engagement.
“Participation and interest in our 2018 summit has been tremendous,” said Shokare Nakpodia, president of the organizing DreamVoice venture, in a news release. “With 180 local hosting partners, 120 participating venues, and 100 volunteers, DreamWeek is the fruit of a community driven endeavor and has become a one-of-a-kind collaboration that is now attracting national interest. More than ever, San Antonio is emerging as the face of America’s future.”
This year’s DreamWeek Summit has grown thanks in part to new partners, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, American Red Cross, Healy-Murphy Center, and Linda Pace Foundation. DreamWeek 2018 begins on January 5 with a breakfast ceremony from 8-9:30 am at the Briscoe Western Art Museum.
In addition to remarks by Mayor Ron Nirenberg, a keynote address will be offered by noted musician/author/lecturer Daryl Davis, who has developed a reputation for forging a unique approach toward race relations. Davis, an African-American, has spent his career traveling the nation interviewing Ku Klux Klan leaders and members.
In preparation for the 15 day celebration, we’ve rounded up a few other DreamWeek events worth checking out. It should be noted that some DreamWeek events also double as activities for the concurrent San Antonio Cocktail Conference, as well as the city’s tricentennial celebration.
Friday, January 5
Saturday, January 6
Sunday, January 7
Monday, January 8
Tuesday, January 9
Wednesday, January 10
Thursday, January 11
Friday, January 12
Saturday, January 13
Monday, January 15
Tuesday, January 16
Wednesday, January 17
Thursday, January 18
Friday, January 19
Saturday, January 20
(SAN ANTONIO, TX)
Two keynote speakers have been announced for the 2018 DreamWeek Summit.
The speakers, Daryl Davis and Amal Kassir, will each address their experience in social and humanitarian activism with respect to the DreamWeek themes of tolerance, equality, and diversity.
Daryl Davis will deliver the keynote address for the DreamWeek 2018 Opening Ceremony on January 5. Davis, a musician, author, and lecturer, has written a book and produced a documentary in which he reflects on his experience working with members of the Ku Klux Klan. He has earned the attention of national press outlets for his unorthodox approach to resolving racial tension, which he sums up in one brief statement: “Establish dialogue. When two enemies are talking, they’re not fighting.”
DreamWeek 2018 will conclude on Saturday, January 20 with the Inaugural Mayor’s Ball, which will feature performances by the city’s top performance artists and entertainers presented by DreamVoice and selected by Mayor Ron Nirenberg. In a recent statement, the mayor reflected on the impact that the annual summit has made on the local community: “DreamWeek is one of the most forward-looking and iconic developments in San Antonio in the last decade.”
The DreamWeek summit comprises 16 days of symposiums, panel discussions, performances, and more, all designed to inspire discourse on civil issues relating to tolerance, equality, and diversity. The 2018 Summit is expected lineup of more than 200 partner-hosted events.
The annual DreamWeek Summit will return to San Antonio for its sixth consecutive year in January 2018 with a lineup of over 200 events. The summit comprises 16 days of symposiums, panel discussions, performances, film screenings, art exhibits, and more, all designed to inspire discourse on civil issues relating to tolerance, equality, and diversity.
The 2018 summit lineup includes events from a growing roster of partner organizations. New partners include the American Civil Liberties Union, American Red Cross, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, The Rape Crisis Center, Transgender Education Network of Texas, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Linda Pace Foundation. Many partners, such as SA2020, San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside (SAGE), the San Antonio Public Library, Artpace, and the DoSeum, are returning as seasoned hosts.
This upcoming year’s DreamWeek Opening Ceremony will feature opening remarks by Mayor Ron Nirenberg who believes DreamWeek “is one of the most forward-looking and iconic developments in San Antonio in the last decade.” The opening ceremony will also feature guest speaker Daryl Davis, an African American man who has earned national attention for his unorthodox approach to resolving racial tensions with Ku Klux Klan members.
The DreamWeek Awards Luncheon will feature guest speaker Amal Kassir, a 22 year old Syrian-American spoken word poet and activist, whose humanitarian initiatives for Syria such as speaking out against Islamophobia, and empowering marginalized voices presented her the opportunity to speak at a TEDx Talk conference.
DreamWeek 2018 will conclude on Saturday, January 20th with the Inaugural Mayor’s Ball, the celebration will highlight San Antonio’s burgeoning arts and culture scene, featuring some of the city’s foremost musical, theatrical, comedic, and cultural performance artists.
For more information about the DreamWeek summit and a line-up of all the scheduled events for 2018 visit www.dreamweek.org/events.
SAN ANTONIO — DreamWeek 2018 will be jam packed with more than 200 events you and your family can attend.
The mission behind these events is to promote tolerance, equality and diversity throughout San Antonio. Sho Nakpodia and Robert Pompa with DreamWeek/DreamVoice stopped by News 4 San Antonio’s Evening Break to share what you can expect.
For more information, CLICK HERE.
This past weekend the Southtown Art District’s Second Saturday event exhibited “Nasty Woman Art Exhibition” and “Portraits by Kasumu” in 1906 Gallery’s AP Art Lab. Contributing to San Antonio Dream Week, the exhibits displayed collections of diverse artworks created by female artists.
DreamWeek San Antonio hosted several cultural events over the weekend where people were encouraged to engage in the arts for the promotion of values such as tolerance, equality and diversity. While connected to DreamWeek, each collection shown during Second Saturday had planning and organization by independent San Antonio groups.
“Nasty Woman New York was the original nasty woman show,” said Elle Minter, Yes, Ma’am organizer and nasty woman. “They had us on their website and they promoted our show.”
Minter worked alongside fellow Yes, Ma’am zine collaborator Suzy Gonzalez to host the San Antonio exhibit where featured art pieces were sold between $10-$100 with all proceeds donated directly to Planned Parenthood South Texas. Over 150 pieces were reportedly sold on the opening night raising 3500 dollars for the organization.
“We did our call submissions through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter,” said Minter. “We have a lot of first time artists in the show actually.”
The call encouraged anyone who identified as a nasty woman to submit their artistic work, stating on the Yes, Ma’am Facebook page that any piece following the posted guidelines would be featured.
“I do art for myself normally,” said Lucy Gonzalez, artist and nasty woman. “This is the first show I’ve ever been in, but when I heard the topic and that you pretty much just had to be involved in wanting to participate to participate, that was really awesome knowing that whatever I chose to do they were going to put it in their show. That was very encouraging for me as an artist that doesn’t do shows.”
One of the two works submitted by Gonzalez was a depiction of Princess Leia done on wood.
“There were a lot of celebrity deaths that made me a little sad last year, but that was the one,” said Gonzales. “I made it shortly after that happened. I’ve always admired Princess Leia slash Carrie Fisher. Of course she’s been good in other roles, but I mean Leia is the nasty woman. A strong woman who doesn’t need to listen to a man, that can think on her own, and get shit done.”
People lined against the walls to the exhibit’s entrance for most of the night while they waited for their opportunity to walk through the gallery featuring fewer and fewer pieces as they were sold during the show. The S.M.A.R.T projectspace located to the right of the Nasty Woman exhibit featured photographic portraits taken by the London based British-Nigerian photographer Juliana Kasumu.
“I think the exhibit was literally just the works that I felt most inspired by to this day,” said Kasumu. “The hair images are all basically based on this investigation into self, and me being Nigerian and moreover what these hairstyles traditionally meant pre-colonialism and postcolonialism. I wanted to show work that was reflective of who I am. They’re all just a reflection of who I am as an artist today.”
Kasumu sought to engage viewers in the nuances of black-female identities. Her work was represented by the Òlàjú art group.
“We’re a nonprofit organization promoting contemporary African arts and culture,” said Obafemi Ogunleye, founder and director of the group. “We put out an open call on our Instagram and she responded all the way from London. This special event was an exhibition plus a live demonstration. We had models coming in throughout the night to be photographed portraiture style, which is her speciality.”
Kasumu captured her unique tonal mood in the portraits of the volunteers who modeled inside of the exhibit throughout the evening.
“These women are based here in San Antonio,” Kasumu said. “They’re notable black women within San Antonio who are professors, entrepreneurs and women of inspiration. I want it to be a continuous thing where with every city I go to I document these notable black women.”
Kasumu has a temporary exhibit on display at Musical Bridges Around the World titled “From Moussor to Tignon: The Evolution of the Head-tie” until March 1.
Nasty Woman San Antonio will hold its final closing reception on January 21, in 1906 Gallery.
